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According to the consumer group Which?, customers are not happy with the low interest rates given by UK banks on many current and savings accounts. In fact almost half of the Which? members included in the survey found this the most annoying area of the service.
Most current accounts are held by the high street names Barclays, Lloyds TSB, RBS and HSBC. Interest rates can be as low as 0.1% on accounts offered by these four main banks. If you shop around it is possible to find other accounts paying 6% interest. However, although other options are available, very few customers actually switch their current account to another provider. Some people worry that administrative errors will occur if they switch, and others just don't get around to doing the research and making the move. As a result only one in five of those surveyed have moved their account to take advantage of better interest rates on offer.
A separate survey of almost 2,500 adults has suggested that consumer opposition to fees for current accounts may not be as strong as some might think. Three out of four would not object to a small monthly fee, as long as the service provided by the bank improved and high penalty charges were removed. This survey was carried out by the finance website MoneyExpert.com.
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